Track Specs: 2.66-mile oval / 40 laps
Dohar’s finish (XBOX): 10th
Gornick’s finish (PS4): 12th
XBox Point Standings: Dohar 8th (-26)
PS4 Point Standings: Gornick 11th (-28)
Team Point Standings: JRM 14th (-133)
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 5, 2020) – Thursday night’s eNASCAR Heat Pro League contest on the towering banks of the virtual Talladega Superspeedway saw the two-car JR Motorsports team of Joe Gornick and Tyler Dohar run well, but at the end, fate played a hand and dealt them a couple of tough blows. Gornick was 12th in the 40-lap PS4 race that opened the night and Dohar was 10th in the XBox nightcap. The race was contested in NASCAR Cup Series machines.
Gornick led off for JRM in the PS4 opener, starting his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet from 14th and stayed near the back of the field in line for the first 15 laps. At that point, the leaders swung onto pit road for the first time and Gornick’s group stayed out, putting the Pennsylvania driver in the third position.
A lap later, Gornick’s group did the same, and the BRANDT Chevrolet came out seventh, in the middle of his pack. As the race wore on, some jockeying occurred and Gornick was 12th at the halfway point. He was ninth with 12 laps remaining when he joined his group on pit road. Unfortunately, he was too fast on pit road and had to serve a penalty. That caused him to lose the draft and he soldiered to a 12th-place finish, one lap down.
Corey Rothgeb won the race, his first eNHPL triumph. Mike Braas was second, followed by Josh Harbin, Joey Stone and T.J. McGowan.
In the nightcap, Dohar started his No. 88 Good Humor Chevrolet from the pole and led the first lap only to see a caution flag entering Turn 1 on lap 2. On the restart, Dohar had slipped to fourth on the outside and dropped to sixth before he could get back to the preferred bottom line.
As the laps wound down, Dohar played line strategy as best he could, sliding up and down the order. The Ohio native led a charge on the high line with 26 laps remaining and took the lead, only to have the caution wave shortly after. After a pit stop, Dohar was second for the restart and the line-swapping began again in earnest. At the halfway point, Dohar was 10th.
Dohar was fourth when two lead cars hit pit road with 12 laps remaining, and he took his Good Humor Chevrolet down for service one lap later. A group stayed out behind them and put Dohar a lap down for the run to the checkered. A caution flag with six laps to go didn’t help, leaving him 12th when the race restarted with just three laps remaining. Over the final flurry Dohar was able to advance to 10th place despite being involved in a last-corner melee and finished there, the first car one lap down.
Justin Brooks won the event, with Jordan McGraw, Luis Zaiter, Diego Alvarado and Riley Ogle comprising the top five.
Dohar is eighth among the XBox drivers in points, while Gornick fell to 11th in the PS4 standings.
The eNASCAR Heat Pro League returns to action on June 18 (Thursday) at the virtual Iowa Speedway.
Tyler Dohar, XBOX driver No. 88 Good Humor Chevrolet team
Joe Gornick, PS4 driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet team